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By Joe Buscaglia

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Dareus returns to Bills practice Friday

by Joe Buscaglia,posted May 30 2014 1:27PM

It was only a brief absence for Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus from practice, but the team got him back on the field for the third day of Organized Team Activities. After Dareus had participated in the first session of the week on Wednesday, he was seen only in the weight room on Thursday.

While he didn't do the full amount of work during team drills on Friday, he was still able to take some reps with the first-team. The reason for only doing work in the weight room on Thursday was not disclosed to the media, but head coach Doug Marrone isn't scheduled to speak until next week.

The Bills also saw another brief return to 11-on-11 work to end their first week of OTAs. Second-year wide receiver Robert Woods, who had surgery on his ankle in February, took his first few reps with the first-team of this year's voluntary practices. Woods told WGR on Thursday afternoon that he expects to be back in full for mandatory minicamp on June 17.

Five players were not seen on the practice field or off to the side working with trainers. That list includes wide receiver Sammy Watkins, defensive end Manny Lawson, defensive tackle Alan Branch, guard J.J. 'Unga and cornerback Darius Robinson. Watkins was excused to be at the NFLPA's annual rookie premiere event, while Lawson and Branch have yet to show up to any offseason workouts. The reason for 'Unga's absence is unknown, and the undrafted Robinson suffered an injury near the end of practice on Thursday.

Once again, work was limited to positional drills for a few veteran players. Cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Leodis McKelvin, safety Aaron Williams, tight end Scott Chandler and wide receivers T.J. Graham and Marcus Easley all did not take reps during 11-on-11 work. Chandler, though, got some work during the 9-on-9 drill on Friday. Running backs Bryce Brown and Ronnie Wingo were both present, but worked primarily with trainers off to the side.

The Bills have now completed three of their 10 OTA sessions of the 2014 offseason. They've moved their next practice from Monday morning to Tuesday, and are now scheduled to have their three workouts of next week go from June 3 through June 5.